As noted in the last
Highlander and Jan. 25 RBDA Annual meeting, there is
universal support and enthusiasm for the December 2011
purchase of the Cemex properties by five conservation
organizations, Sempervirens Fund, Save the Redwoods
League, Peninsula Open Space Trust, the Nature
Conservancy and the Santa Cruz County Land Trust, with
financial support from the Gordon and Betty Moore
Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard
Foundation.

This
purchase was in concert with these organizations’
shared vision of their Living Landscape Initiative,
which calls for preservation and sustainable
management of contiguous wild and natural areas with
significant natural beauty, watersheds and
biodiversity throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains and
adjoining areas.

The heavily forested 8,532
acre Cemex property is the largest landholding in
Santa Cruz County in private ownership. It stretches
from near the ocean to the ridge traced by Empire
Grade. There are four distinct watersheds supporting
both Davenport and Santa Cruz City water systems and
providing critical habitat for both steelhead trout
and Coho salmon. In spite of the years of quarry work
and timber harvesting there remain pockets of old
growth redwood and Douglas fir.

At our March 14 meeting, Reed
Holderman, Executive Director of Sempervirens Fund,
will be the featured speaker. He will update us on all
aspects of the sale, ownership, ongoing active
scientific survey work, long-term use possibilities,
and opportunities for public comment and involvement.
Reed will be joined by Terry Corwin, Land Trust
executive director, who will focus on the relationship
of the Cemex property to the Living Landscape
Initiative.

As this property represents
over one quarter of the land area of Bonny Doon and
what happens there will have a big impact on our
community, upcoming issues of the Highlander will
feature timely and accurate updates. Given the rapid
development of this property sale, there are many
questions. Your Board has been in discussion with
leadership of the various organizations to provide the
following answers:

Who actually owns the
Cemex property?

The deed owners are jointly
Sempervirens and POST (Peninsula Open Space Trust).
The $30 million purchase was funded by the land
conservation organizations listed above as well as the
Resources Legacy Fund, and the Moore, and Packard
foundations.

Is there public access
now?

The answer is a definite
“NO.” A rapid scientific assessment and survey of the
land and resources is under way to provide a
foundation for long-term management. There is a
commitment to complete this as rapidly as possible.

What about the
Conservation Easement?

The
plan in the very near term is for the Santa Cruz Land
Trust and Save the Redwoods to jointly purchase a
detailed conservation easement that will direct the
long-term management and use of the land. This will
include biodiversity and sensitive habitat protection,
watershed protection, public access and sustainable
timber harvesting.

What is happening on the
land right now?

Big Creek Lumber has been
contracted to maintain the existing roads and monitor
access and conditions of the property. There is no
timbering of any kind being done presently. No one
lives on it.

The same organization and
professionals that have done scientific assessment of
the Coast Dairies property have been contracted to
analyze the biologic, watershed and geologic resources
of the land. The intent is for this to be fast-tracked
in order to guide the structuring of the long-term
easements and aid transition to the time when public
access will be allowed.

What is the long-term
use plan?

This is not complete but
there have been a few decisions. There will be public
access. The Cemex property is physically connected to
over 27,000 acres of protected land (Coast Dairies,
state parklands, Bonny Doon Eco Reserve, protected
watershed,etc.). The intention is to take advantage of
this contiguous natural habitat for both wildlife and
recreation in appropriate sustainable ways. There will
be some sensitive habitat areas protected.

There
will be no private development or significant
construction.

There will be some carefully
monitored sustainable logging guided by the
conservation easement. This is a new trend of land
conservation that seeks ongoing income for
maintenance, support for the County tax base, and
additional land conservation purchases.

Will this become a state
park?

This is very unlikely in the
current economic climate. Management by land
conservation organizations can still provide public
access and trail maintenance, easement oversight and
conservation.

What about public
involvement?

Come to Reed Holderman’s
presentation at the March 14 RBDA General meeting at
Bonny Doon School.

There is a tentative plan for
a public forum in Davenport on May 2.

You can contact the
landowners or easement purchasers directly. All have
local offices and contact information on the web.

Additional public fundraising
for this property is ongoing.

What role will the RBDA
have in this process?

Your Board is in active
communication with the current owners (Sempervirens
and POST), easement purchasers (Santa Cruz Land Trust
and Save the Redwoods), and the property managers (Big
Creek Lumber). We will provide updates as this process
unfolds via the Highlander and our general meetings.

Do you have
additional ideas about how Bonny Doon residents can
play a constructive role? Let us know.

Water
for UCSC Expansion: Something’s Fishy

On Dec. 7 the Santa Cruz Local Agency Formation
Commission (LAFCO) voted to approve the expansion of
the City’s Sphere of Influence to include 240 acres of
the UCSC North Campus and authorized the City to
extend water and sewer services to support development
there. LAFCO imposed a condition requiring the City to
commit to reducing stream and river diversions to a
level authorized by federal and state resource
agencies.

In early February, responding
to a request from LAFCO Executive Officer Pat
McCormick for guidance regarding the status of the
City’s Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), the federal
and state agencies charged with administering the
Endangered Species Acts as they concern fish, the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s
(NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), and
the California Dept. of Fish and Game (DFG) both wrote
to LAFCO, putting the matter in stark terms.

As we reported in the May
2011 Highlander (bonnydoon.got.net/05-11_hlndr.html),
the
HCP addresses the habitats of several federally listed
endangered species, most notably the steelhead and
coho salmon which spawn in Laguna, Majors, and Liddell
creeks and the San Lorenzo River, all of which flow
off of Ben Lomond Mountain (Bonny Doon).

According to Jonathan Ambrose
of NMFS, in his 22 years working with endangered
species, the situation for coho south of the Golden
Gate is the worst he has ever seen, and the rigorous
work the City has done developing its draft salmonid
Conservation Strategy indicates that the impact of
City Water diversions is worse than was previously
assumed.

To put this in some context,
the San Lorenzo was once the second most heavily
fished river in California. City Water diversions on
the San Lorenzo are impacting the steelhead’s survival
there at this very moment. On the North Coast, the
only thing saving the coho from local extinction is
the vigorous breeding and genetic preservation efforts
of the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project on Big
Creek.

The streams provide the
majority of the City’s drinking water. The City based
its Conservation Strategy on three tiers of stream
flow: Tier 1 maintains the current flows. Tier 2 aims
to improve the stream habitat on the North Coast
within the constraints of the current system. Tier 3
restores both river and stream habitat to 80%
of optimum, but is impossible in the current
water regime.

In their letters NOAA and DFG
told LAFCO that they do not accept the tier system as
an appropriate measure to comply with the Federal
Endangered Species Act, and do not view it as
sufficient to prevent further degradation of salmonid
habitat. The science is incomplete, legally preventing
the agencies from saying anything in this technical
assistance phase about what the eventual requirements
for the HCP will be. But they make it clear that Tier
3 flows in all years are an absolute minimum. This
means that even if the proposed desalination plant is
built the City, by its own projections, probably won’t
be able to meet the projected growth in water demand
by 2020, and certainly by 2030. Among other measures,
NOAA recommends that there be no City water diversions
from Laguna Creek in dry or critically dry water
years.

In response the City says
that NOAA and DFG don’t understand another LAFCO
condition requiring any future increases in water
demand on the entire UCSC campus be offset by new
water conservation within the entire city water
service area, which will result in no net increase in
demand across the whole water system. The City goes on
to claim that UCSC will use so little water in the dry
season or during drought-imposed restrictions that the
fish needn’t worry. The City also claims not to
understand the agencies’ rejection of its strategy
which reduces, without eliminating, the City’s
violation of the Endangered Species Act.

The bottom line: NOAA’s and
DFG’s letters show the agencies are committed to
bringing back the coho and steelhead, and the City
says it is working hard to further that effort. For
the City Water Dept. the news is not good: current
water supplies are insufficient to meet current demand
and protect listed salmonids. The political dilemmas
facing LAFCO and the City are how to implement UCSC
water neutrality and how to address the inevitable
decrease in water diversions from North Coast streams
and the San Lorenzo River.

The
upcoming summer is sure to see vigorous debate on
water in Santa Cruz County.

It should be an interesting meeting;
it will be our chance to see how LAFCO and the City
flesh out the UCSC water neutrality policy.

Other
Water Related Developments:

•The City Water Department is preparing a formal
rebuttal to some technical legal aspects of the NOAA
and DFG letters, but sees the letters as good news for
fish in North Coast streams.

•Santa Cruz Desal Alternatives is collecting
signatures for a ballot initiative to require City
voter approval of any action to approve, permit or
fund a desalination plant. Mayor Don Lane has proposed
that the City Council adopt an ordinance requiring
voter approval to build the plant after an EIR and
permitting are in place.

•City Water Conservation Director Toby Goddard
points out that : “Examination of the historic record
shows there have been only four times in the last 100
years in which there was less rainfall in Santa Cruz
through February than this year. Most of you remember
1990 and perhaps even 1976. The other two years were
1913 and 1924, which was, notably, the year the City
added the San Lorenzo River to the water system. The
weather report is not encouraging.”

Monsters
Invade Bonny Doon

They’re coming! Monster homes
in Bonny Doon! We’re close to UCSC, surrounded by
natural areas with hiking and biking trails, and yet
still close enough to Silicon Valley to attract
commuting. This combination is attractive to people
who have money to burn. So far the monster homes (or
“Large Dwellings” in County Code) come in two
varieties: boarding houses/dormitories built by
landlords for UCSC students, and opulent estates.

The County has more stringent
rules for large houses, but clever developers are
figuring out how to avoid that designation by building
just under the limits for any number of rules. The
result is a development that looks and feels like a
monster house, but technically may not be.

The purpose of the Large
Dwelling ordinance is to “preserve the neighborhood
character in which the proposed structure(s) will be
located,” according to the latest policy
interpretation. A Large Dwelling is defined as having
7,000 sq. ft. of floor area or more (County Code
section 13.11.040(c)). An ambiguity lies in the
definition of “floor area.” The Planning Dept. issued
a policy interpretation on Sept. 21, 2011 that based
the 7,000 sq. ft. trigger point on the calculated
“Habitable Floor Area.” They then revised the
interpretation on Jan. 20 and added a “Floor Area”
calculation as well. The final decision on whether a
dwelling is “large” depends on the greater of the two
calculations.

The difference between the
two calculations lies mainly in the inclusion or
exclusion of attic, basement and mezzanine space. The
“Floor area” calculation is clear: basements and
mezzanines count, attics don’t. The “Habitable Floor
Area” calculation excludes mezzanine space, but allows
a loophole for the attic and basement. To simplify it,
they don’t count if the ceiling is under 7’ 6”,
allowing a 7’5” fully finished basement or attic to
not count as habitable space. Because attics don’t
count in one definition and mezzanines don’t count in
the other, and because of the tricky calculation in
one method, it is unclear whether a particular
calculation will always be the greater area.

Accessory or open structures
are not included in the calculation, so potentially
the total built area could be quite large and still
not fall under the Large Dwelling review (see below
for example and review details).

The dormitory-style monster
house is exemplified by two houses near the corner of
Ice Cream and Empire Grades (Maverick Court and
Twilight Lane). These were built as single family
owner-occupied homes, but the square footage was just
under the 7,000 sq. ft. limit. There are up to 15
unrelated people living in them, dorm style. The owner
initially occupied an outbuilding, thus lessening his
taxes by claiming a homestead exemption. They resemble
unkempt frat houses more than a family home. They are
not in character with their neighborhood and could
have been rejected or modified under the “Large
Dwelling” rules.

An example of the “estate”
style large house is planned off Smith Grade, where a
Silicon Valley executive wants to build an almost
9,000 sq. ft. mansion, with a finished basement of
more than 2,000 sq. ft. Basement and attic library
ceilings will be just under 7’ 6”, thus not triggering
a Large Dwelling review. There are about 7,000 sq. ft.
of outbuildings, seven cisterns, a swimming pool and
miscellaneous other features. It requires the
excavation and grading of close to 3,700 cubic yards.

Under the Jan. 20
interpretation the house size appears to trigger a
review because the basement and main house total more
than 7,000 sq. ft. Regardless, it is clearly a very
large development and out of character with its
neighborhood. The building permit is under review.

Large Dwelling
Design Guidelines

A Large Dwelling as defined
above triggers a Design Review (County Code Ch.
13.11), which is more rigorous (13.10.325). The
guidelines provide some protections for neighbors and
help the owner blend the new house in with the
existing environment. Permit approval will be made as
the result of comments and input at a public hearing,
with rights of appeal.

The guidelines require the
house be compatible with the neighborhood in size and
height or be adequately screened and not affect
neighbors’ privacy, public viewshed, or solar access.
Changes in the natural topography must be minimized,
natural ridgeline silhouettes remain unbroken, the
building sited on lower areas where possible, and
architectural features adopted so the house is less
intrusive.

Rural Vs. Urban
Or Suburban Large House

There remain unresolved
issues with the permitting process for large houses.
In Bonny Doon we are in some ways unique: houses can
be very far apart and we are still mostly rural. Yet
this area is becoming more attractive to wealthy
people because of the large parcels available and the
proximity to open space. An attraction for
landlord/developers is the ongoing expansion of UCSC.
These influences threaten to radically change the
rural character of Bonny Doon.

Any
project’s whole constructed complex and overall impact
level need to be compared with other developments in
the neighborhood. There should be a sense that the
whole project fits the spirit of the law, not just the
letter. The RBDA Board is working with the County to
help develop Large Dwelling rules that are more
appropriate to rural areas than the current ones,
which appear more appropriate for urban/suburban areas
of the County.

Bike
Race Returns to Bonny Doon

The bicycle world’s elite racers will
once again experience the joys and agonies of riding
Bonny Doon’s roads when the Amgen Tour of California
goes through Santa Cruz County on May 14.

Wheeling their way down from
San Francisco via Highway 1, the riders will grind up
Bonny Doon Road, then turn left and head up Empire
Grade to Jamison Creek Road, where they will negotiate
the steep tight turns onto Highway 236 in Boulder
Creek. From there it’s another nasty climb up Bear
Creek Road, then a race along Summit Road to Old San
Jose Road for another high speed descent into Soquel
and onto the finish line at Cabrillo College. All told
the second stage of the Tour is 117 miles of gorgeous
scenery, lung-bursting ascents and heart-stopping
descents.

Maura
Noel, who is leading the local organizing efforts,
will be at the March 14 RBDA meeting to answer your
questions about the Tour, the best places to watch and
its likely effects on traffic for the hour or so it
will pass through Bonny Doon.

Arboretum
Founder Ray Collett Dies

Ray Collett, who more than
anyone was responsible for the invaluable resource

that is the UCSC Arboretum, died on Feb. 22. A Bonny
Dooner for decades, Ray died under hospice care at the
Arboretum home of present director Brett Hall, one of
his students and a close friend.

Ray was chosen by UCSC
Chancellor Dean McHenry to turn a portion of the Great
Meadow into a world-renowned botanical garden and seed
bank, a dynamic living laboratory of Mediterranean
climate plants.

In 1998 Ray resigned as
Arboretum director to protest UCSC’s plan to take part
of it for the Ranchview Terrace housing development,
which also destroyed habitat of the Red-legged frog,
an endangered species. He fiercely opposed the
development but UCSC engineered a takeover of the
Arboretum board and had its way. As a sop to Ray, he
was named director emeritus.

Then-UCSC Chancellor M.R.C.
Greenwood said at the time, "The Arboretum encompasses
the wonderful collection that it does because of Ray
Collett's foresight, skill, and hard work. Dr. Collett
deserves our admiration and thanks for his many years
of profound dedication.”

While
teaching a full load of classes in Natural Sciences
and other disciplines, Ray gathered plants from
California, Chile, Australia, New Zealand and South
Africa. He was frequently honored by horticultural
societies and has a plant named after him, Ray’s
Tangerine Correa. In his retirement years Ray was a
vocal critic of UCSC’s planned expansion on the North
Campus and development in other environmentally
important areas.

Now We Are Seven

At our January meeting,
incumbent RBDA Board members Joe Christy and Lad
Wallace were re-elected by unanimous consent, but
despite numerous entreaties, we were unable to find a
candidate to stand for departing Board Vice Chair Pat
Morrison's seat.

Shortly afterward, former
RBDA chairman and Highlander Editor Ted Benhari
volunteered to fill in, and he was appointed to the
empty board seat and reinstalled as Highlander Editor.
Ted brings 14 years of experience on the Board and
even longer producing the Highlander.

According to RBDA Bylaws, the
Board can appoint someone to an empty seat only until
the next Annual Meeting (next January 9), when it will
have to be filled by membership vote.

Bonny Doon's voice in preserving our special
quality of life,
The Highlander is mailed free to Bonny Doon
residents prior to the
RBDA General Meetings, which are usually held
on second Wednesdays of
January, March, May, July, September and
November.
We encourage you to participate.

Send mail correspondence to the
Highlander Editor at the above address,
or by email, below.